If an old website does not display properly on a phone, if the information on it no longer reflects your business today, if nobody can update it or if the browser shows visitors a security warning, it may be time to consider a redesign. Any one of the six signs below may be solved with a small fix on its own; when several appear together, a redesign may make more sense. Before deciding, knowing whose hands the domain and the site are in comes before the redesign itself.
This article is for business owners who had a website built years ago and hardly use it today. Below you will find the signs worth looking at, the ownership details that can be gathered before a redesign, and how to choose between redesigning the site, taking it down or leaving it as it is.
⚡ Example scenario: An estate agency's website was built years ago by an acquaintance. Most of the listings on it were sold long ago, the phone number is the agency's old line, and nobody has the password for the admin panel. The agency does not use the site, but it is still online, and when someone searches for the agency's name, this old page is what they find. When the owner decides to redesign the site, the first thing they learn is that the domain is still registered in the acquaintance's name.
Six Signs It Is Time for a Redesign
It does not display properly on a phone
Many visitors may look at the site from a phone. If the text stays tiny, the menu does not open or the page has to be scrolled sideways, the site may have been built for desktop and not adapted to phones. This can often be fixed not by correcting a single page but by rebuilding the layout from the start.
The information no longer reflects your business today
A service you no longer offer, a photo of a former employee, an old address or a disconnected line may still be on the site. Updating details one by one may look like a small job, but if there is no room on the site for your new service, the problem is not the information; it is the structure of the site that has aged.
Nobody can update the site
The person who built the site may be unreachable, the admin panel password may be lost or the platform the site runs on may no longer be supported. In that case even a small change may be impossible, and the site may keep spreading old information without anyone meaning it to.
The browser shows a security warning
If "not secure" appears in the address bar or a warning page comes up when the site opens, the site's encrypted connection certificate may be missing or expired. A visitor who sees this warning may close the page and leave.
No enquiries come from the site
If the contact form does not work, the phone number does not start a call when tapped, or there is no contact channel people use today, such as WhatsApp, a visitor may leave the site without knowing what to do. Getting no enquiries at all from the site may be a sign that the site is not talking to customers.
The work shown on the site is years old
If the reference list, project photos or listings have not changed for a long time, visitors may not be sure the business is still operating. For an estate agency, this means sold properties still appearing for sale on the site; a customer may call to ask about a flat that is no longer available.
Before a Redesign: Who Holds the Site
Whatever the decision, it helps to first know in whose name the parts of the site are registered. This information is often with the person who built the site or in old invoices.
- Domain: whose name the site's address is registered in, when it is due for renewal and with which company it is held.
- Hosting: which server the site's files are on, who owns the account and who pays for it.
- Admin panel: who has the login details for the site and whether the password can be changed.
- Business email: if email addresses with the company name are tied to the same domain, a change to the domain may also affect email.
If the domain is registered to an employee or a former acquaintance, asking for it to be transferred before the redesign may prevent a dispute that could arise later.
Redesign, Take Down or Leave It
| Situation | Option to consider |
|---|---|
| The site works, only a few details are out of date | Update the details and name someone responsible for them |
| The site is broken on phones and the content is old | Redesign the site |
| Nobody can access the site | First recover access and the domain, then redesign |
| The site will not be used, but the domain is well known | Keep the domain and publish a single contact page |
| Both the site and the domain no longer relate to the business | Before taking it down, check the email addresses and links tied to the domain |
Leaving an unused site online may raise more questions for a visitor who meets wrong information than taking the site down would. If you are thinking of carrying on with only a social media account and no site of your own, we looked at both options in the article comparing a website with a social media account.
What Can Be Kept in a Redesign
A new site does not have to mean deleting the old one. Some parts can be carried over:
- Domain: the address customers know can stay the same.
- Visited pages: old page addresses that appear in search engines can be redirected to their equivalents on the new site.
- Text that is still accurate: sections such as the company story or service descriptions can be reviewed and reused.
- Images: good product and project photos can also find a place in the new layout.
After the New Site Goes Live
A redesign may not be finished when the site goes live. To keep the old site's problems from coming back, these points can be clarified in the first days after launch:
- Person responsible for updates: who notices when information on the site changes and whom they tell.
- How to request changes: through which channel and to whom a request to add a new service or photo is sent.
- Status of old accounts: that the old hosting account has been closed and the same business does not have two separate sites online.
- Testing contact channels: that the form, phone link and WhatsApp button actually reach the right person.
These steps may look small, but what usually leads to an old site being abandoned over time is not the design; it is the uncertainty about whose job the site is.
Wrong and Right: What to Do With an Old Site
| Common practice | What can be done instead |
|---|---|
| Leaving the site online without using it | Either updating it or reducing it to a short contact page |
| Not tracking the domain renewal date | Putting the date in the calendar and linking payment to the company |
| Launching the new site without thinking about old addresses | Redirecting old pages to their new equivalents |
| Depending on the person who built the site | Keeping login details and documents within the company |
| Changing only the design | Also discussing from scratch what each page should say |
Checklist for an Old Site
| Check | Why |
|---|---|
| Is the site easy to read on a phone | Visitors may be opening the site from a phone |
| Are phone, address and services up to date | A customer may not call with wrong information |
| Is there a security warning in the address bar | A visitor may leave the page on seeing the warning |
| Is the domain registered in the company's name | Transfer and renewal can go smoothly |
| Are the admin panel login details held by the company | You may not have to depend on someone else for changes |
| Does the site have a contact channel people use today | A visitor can find an easy way to ask a question |
Frequently Asked Questions
How can you tell an old website needs a redesign
A redesign can be considered if the site does not display properly on a phone, the information does not reflect the business today, nobody can update the site or the browser shows a security warning. If several of these signs appear together, a redesign may make more sense than fixing them one by one.
Should an unused site be taken down
Before removing the site, you can check whether company email addresses and links shared elsewhere rely on this address. If customers know the domain, publishing a single contact page instead of taking the site down can be considered.
What information should be gathered before a redesign
You can gather whose name the domain is registered in, who owns the hosting account, the admin panel login details and whether company email addresses are tied to the domain.
What happens to old addresses on the new site
Visitors arriving at old addresses can be sent to the page on the new site that covers the same topic. That way, someone clicking an old link in search results or in their bookmarks may not land on an empty page.
What can be done if the domain is registered to someone else
The registered person can be asked to move the domain into the company's name. When this move is completed before the new site is built, the chance of questions later about who owns the address can decrease.
A site that describes your business today, in place of your old one
Kılman Corporate Website is a business site published on your own domain, laid out for phones first and served over an encrypted connection. Pages are planned together, not around a ready-made theme but around how you want to present your business to customers. The domain is registered in your name; the site stays yours. For details, you can take a look at the Corporate Website page.
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